Netflix’s first footage from Bridgerton season 3 has Us very intrigued by Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton’s road to romance.
In the clip, which was released on Thursday, February 1, Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) shares a romantic pickup line with Colin (Luke Newton) that leaves him stunned.
“Your eyes are the most remarkable shade of blue. And yet somehow they shine even brighter when you are kind,” Penelope says before Colin breaks their intense eye contact to quickly get a glass of water. “I might say something like that, if you were a suitor.”
Colin, who is clearly seeing Penelope in a new light after years of friendship, replies “Well that was rather direct.”
Bridgerton fans have been expecting to be blown away by Penelope and Colin’s onscreen chemistry since they were announced as the upcoming season’s leads. The hit series is based on Julia Quinn’s books, each of which follow a different Bridgerton sibling.
Season 1 explored Daphne Bridgerton’s (Phoebe Dynevor) complicated but steamy connection with Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page). In the second season, Daphne’s older brother Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) got his chance at a happily-ever-after when he met Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley).
Penelope had a less than stellar conclusion to her season 2 arc. In the finale, which was released in March 2022, Penelope’s best friend Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) discovered that she was actually gossip columnist Lady Whistledown. Amid her rift with Eloise, Penelope overheard Colin telling his friends that he wasn’t romantically interested in her.
Season 3 will show Penelope making the decision to move on from her childhood crush. According to the synopsis, Penelope “decided it’s time to take a husband,” but her efforts in the marriage mart “fail spectacularly.” Colin subsequently takes the opportunity to win back Penelope’s friendship by offering to mentor her to help her find a husband. The decision takes an unexpected turn when Colin instead finds himself falling in love with Penelope.
Based on Quinn’s novel Romancing Mister Bridgerton, the third season comes after the show’s creative team surprised fans by not following the order of the book series. Showrunner Jess Brownell previously defended not picking up the new episodes with Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) since the third novel, An Offer From a Gentleman, is about his connection with newcomer Sophie.
“I really feel like it’s Colin and Penelope’s time. Because we’ve been watching both of these actors on our screens since season 1, we’ve already invested in them a little bit. We know who they are as people,” she told Variety in May 2022. “I feel like, especially in the last season, there are these moments of tension between them where it’s like, Colin walks up to the line of almost realizing that Penelope has feelings for him but doesn’t quite get there. Instead of treading water on that dynamic, we wanted to push it into their season. It really felt like the perfect moment to tee it up.”
Brownell also argued that it made more sense to fast-track Penelope and Colin.
“[We have] really [been] getting to know Pen and Colin. We’ve been watching Pen’s crush and seeing how oblivious Colin is to it. That’s a dynamic that you can only play out for so long before something has to change,” she noted to Entertainment Weekly in December 2023. “This really felt like the right time to lean into what’s been set up with them. On the Benedict side, he’s such a fun character and such a fan favorite that we are really excited to play with him for a little bit more and let him have more fun before he settles down.”
Part 1 of Bridgerton season 3 starts streaming on Netflix on May 16. The second part will be available on June 13.
